M.R Lalu
Ever since the BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Modi’s ideological alma mater began to receive a magnified attention in the media. It was not because the RSS failed to grab media glare previously, but it used to maintain an ideal distance from it. I have known from the facts that the organization illustrated on different occasions that it believes in dialogues with its ideological adversaries to rectify the confusion that has been there in the air on its views and it was hesitant to depend on the media to publicize its agenda. This approach of the Sangh seems to have gained it more meaningful popularity in India and abroad. What made me take a closer view of the RSS was an incident. Besides being curious about the speech delivered by the RSS Chief in his annual address, during the Dussehra days every year, his unexpected visit to a mosque in Delhi had compelled me to study it intensely.
Interestingly, one reason that his visit captured columns in dailies was due to its being an unprecedented event and a rarity by all means. The second reason was that the head of the BJP’s ideological mentor visited the mosque when the country was witnessing multiple probes and raids and arrests of PFI activists in various parts of India. And the third reason I think, must have needled the media the most was the statement of Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, the Chief of All India Imam Organization, which is the largest Imam organization in the world. Mohan Bhagwat is “rashtra pita” (father of the nation), said the senior cleric. To which, Bhagwat intervened and said that there is only one father of the nation and also said everyone is “Bharat Ki Santan” (child of the nation). The momentum, the churn his visit and its ideological ramification triggered was immense. Now, being at the brim of a century, the RSS is all set to celebrate its feat.
Passing through a century of its activities of man making and nation building, the RSS seems to have gained the rare reputation of an organization that has achieved this grand milestone of a century. Politically, it is the Indian National Congress that has crossed a century. But hitting the rough edges of time, it seriously diminished in values and structure. Significantly moving from what it calls being just a cultural organization to an organizational genius of a colossal entity which gave birth to multiple organizations including the ruling BJP; the RSS deserves to be studied extensively to gain clarity on its ideological moorings. There have been malicious campaigns against its intentions and daring attempts depicted it as a campaigner of hatred. It is really irresponsible to treat any ideology a source of contempt and hatred and chaos until we get into the reality of facts that were intriguingly framed into comically-proportioned narratives.
Though Dr K B Hedgevar was the founder of RSS, its expansion to this unimaginable magnitude became possible with its second Chief M.S.Golwalkar began to hold the reins. Popularly known as Guruji, Golwalkar is well known for his saintly persona and his book “Bunch of Thoughts” has been considered as its holy text. The RSS has been known for its hard Hindutva stance with patriotic flavor holding its ideological essence attracting millions. It has been under attack on various issues, from the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi to the destruction of Babri Masjid to a lot many issues have been attached to the RSS by its opponents, giving it the status of a culprit. Of course it received a clean chit from the judiciary on Gandhi’s assassination. But flipping the pages of historic accounts on the struggle that an independent India had to go through to acceding Jammu and Kashmir to the Indian union, I found serious reasons to disbelieve the narratives that are framed to vilify the RSS. Guru Golwalkar, according to some historical inscriptions, was instrumental in convincing Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir to join the Indian union. And Guru Golwalkar was reported to have got this assignment from the then Home Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel. Golwalkar received the affirmative response from the Maharaja and the region subsequently chose to join India.
The whole mess of allegations on the RSS seems to be fading with our understanding of the organization over its ideological interventions for the welfare of India. A genuine surprise would brush off the mirage of such a vilification campaign. Interestingly in practice, the RSS seems to have made considerable attempts to help successive governments when it found the country was faced with grave threats. The appalling onslaught by India’s aggressive neighbor China was forewarned by the RSS in its Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha in 1959. Cautioning the government, the highest decision making body of the Sangh said, “…..the country should essentially rely on its own strength, if it has to meet any kind of external and internal challenges.” The RSS goes on admonishing the government on its stand on Tibet as well. It tells, “The Government in its anxiety to befriend China became totally unmindful of her expansionist designs and even admitted China’s claim on Tibet.” Bringing the internal security threat alert to the government, the resolution by the APBS concludes, “…. alongside invasion on our borders, subversive activities of the Chinese spies and the Communists and other fifth column elements within the country are going on unchecked.”
The horror of Sandeshkhali began to cripple the fortunes of a large number of innocent people in West Bengal. But the Sangh foretold how precarious the state security was as extremist elements were blessed by their masters in politics. Islamic radicalization and the intensity of its horror destabilized Tagore’s Bengal. The APBS 2017 expressed grave concern over the influx of Jihadi elements in the state and it warned the state government for its theatrics of being a sympathizer to the disruptive forces, encouraging them by providing an ecosystem for radicalization. The RSS has a clear vision on the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 as well. An apex body meeting of the RSS appealed to the citizens of the country to know the real purpose of the act, which it said was a prime mover to deliver justice to those minorities who got displaced and persecuted under Islamic rule in the neighboring countries. Its assurance decreed the genuineness of the act which, it promised, would not target any Indian citizen.
Having gone through the resolutions passed by the annual high level meetings of the RSS, one thing was clear, that there is an underlying ideological acceptance between the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS. While the RSS aspires for Bharatiya resurgence through structural spiritual evolution, the government under Modi seems to materialize this on multiple fronts. His revamping missions of spiritual centers to his Panch Pran call from the ramparts of the Red Fort, all that is executed by the government is in tune with what the RSS strives for fulfillment. This ideological concomitance is reflected in Modi’s Make in India initiative which was an ideal hand-in-glove material of the Sangh’s Swadeshi movement. Modi’s “Vocal for Local” has gone beyond the dry sloganeering of “Swadeshi” as he brought this ideological dictum in true spirit and practice. Though the RSS is sidelined and criticized for its Hindutva stance on nationalism, an ideal study of the Sangh would reveal certain hard facts about why it survived for a century. Ruling the country for a decade, the Sangh has reasons to plan for a hat-trick, which even the BJP and its leader Narendra Modi understandably accept, would be hard to happen without the RSS cadres toil.
